Rebel China village holds new elections under a cloud

Local residents walk past Chinese paramilitary police as they arrive to vote during elections in the village of Wukan on March 31, 2014. Drenched voters in the Chinese village of Wukan, which held landmark democratic elections after rebelling against Communist officials, went back to the polls Monday, March 31, 2014 in a ballot clouded by signs authorities are reasserting their power. -- PHOTO: AFP

WUKAN, China (AFP) - Drenched voters in the Chinese village of Wukan, which held landmark democratic elections after rebelling against Communist officials, went back to the polls Monday in a ballot clouded by signs authorities are reasserting their power.

Wukan, in south China's Guangdong province, grabbed headlines worldwide in 2011 when locals staged huge protests and drove out Communist Party officials they accused of illegal land grabs.

Protest leaders swept to power in landmark elections months later, and another poll was held Monday in torrential rain to elect a new seven-member village committee.

But the conditions lowered turnout, as did with a sense of disillusionment with the lack of progress in recovering land following the previous ballot.